Something great and miraculous happened on Jan. 19, 6-11 p.m., at the San Ildefonso church in Bulacan. Visionary-healer Carmelo Cortez put his hands on people, with roses in his hands. He gave away the roses that immediately changed to religious icons.

Dr. Gil Villacorte ’s rose petals had the icons of San Ildefonso and the Immaculate Conception, while his wife Teresita had St. Therese of the Child Jesus. Fr. Johan Sebastian, who was conceived as an answered prayer from San Ildefonso to his mother who had difficulty conceiving, had the icon of the saint.

It was one of the novena days of the fiesta and people were waiting patiently for Brother Carmelo to touch them. The phenomenal gift given by God to his humble young man began in 1993 when the Blessed Virgin Mary reportedly appeared to him in a dream. He was guided to build a chapel on a lot in Barangay San Vicente in Santa Maria, Bulacan.

The beautiful chapel stands there now and healing Masses are held on the first Saturday of the month at 11 a.m.

Phenomenal fiesta

The presence of 1,500 people during every Mass last Jan. 23 was phenomenal. At the Fiesta Mass at 10 a.m., Bishop Jose Oliveros marveled at the presence of 43 priests. Then, the “Levites Singing Priests” performed after the procession on church grounds.

Many happy events took place during fiesta day. Virgilio “Tata Gerling” San Jose Bonifacio, who has been playing during Masses for 37 years, was given the Pastoral Award.

Bishop Oliveros recognized the new Parish Pastoral Council, the La Juventud de Hermandad de San Ildefonso, which provides for 10 college scholars, including one nun and seminarian, through the help of Dr. Villacorte.

Saying ‘thank you’

Devotees from other towns came to say “thank you” to San Ildefonso for prayers granted. A lady asked for a child seven years ago, and she was given a baby boy. A vendor was able to send her children to college. Dr. Teresita Villacorte summed it all up when she told her husband, “You made many people happy.” Instead of spending for their 25th wedding anniversary last Oct. 18, the Villacortes spent their money helping fund the fiesta.

Miracle by the Holy Cross

Pilgrims are starting to climb the mountain of San Jose, Tarlac, to attend the vigil Sunday night for the fifth anniversary of the enshrinement of the Relic of the Holy Cross.

A big crowd is expected to come from the lowlands. One of them will be Caridad Mangaldan of Moonwalk Village in Parañaque, whose grandson Mikmik, who was suspected to have a hole in his heart at age 10 in 2009, was declared negative in all medical tests.

Lola Caridad had fallen prostrate before the reliquary, asking Jesus to help her grandson. Her prayer was granted. The boy was brought to the Phil. Heart Center last June 6, after he was seen suffering pain on the chest in May. On June 7, when Lola Caridad was at the Monasterio de Tarlac praying, her cell phone rang.

It was her eldest son, father of Mikmik, saying, “2D echo, negative.”

Pray for Suriname

Pray the Joyful Mysteries for Suriname—for peaceful coexistence among the different ethnic groups; for political will to police drug traffickers and gold smugglers; for the timber industry to manage forest resources wisely; for authorities to halt the transshipment of arms for drugs; and for peaceful resolution of its territorial dispute with Guyana.

Golden Jubilee

Congratulations, Class of ’62 of the Holy Spirit Academy in Laoag City, for their Golden Jubilee on Feb. 3-5. Mass is at 8 a.m., Feb. 3, at Carmelite Monastery on Gomez Street.

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Anonymous

What kind of physicians would believe in this hocus-pocus transformation of plain rose petals changing into religious images? Really? I bet you someone did some inside job and put those images before hand! What a hoax!!!